Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect, and primarily encompasses copyrights, patents, and trademarks.[1] It also includes other types of rights, such as trade secrets, publicity rights, moral rights, and rights against unfair competition. Artistic works like music and literature, as well as some discoveries, inventions, words, phrases, symbols, and designs, can all be protected as intellectual property,[2][3] it was not until the 19th century that the term "intellectual property" began to be used, and not until the late 20th century that it became commonplace in the majority of the world.[4]

The main purpose of intellectual property law is to encourage the creation of a large variety of intellectual goods. To achieve this, the law gives people and businesses property rights to the information and intellectual goods they create, usually for a limited period of time, because they can earn profit from them, this gives economic incentive for their creation.[5] These economic incentives are expected to stimulate innovation and contribute to the technological progress of countries, which depends on the extent of protection granted to innovators.[6]

The intangible nature of intellectual property presents difficulties when compared with traditional property like land or goods. Unlike traditional property, intellectual property is "indivisible" – an unlimited number of people can "consume" an intellectual good without it being depleted. Additionally, investments in intellectual goods suffer from problems of appropriation – a landowner can surround their land with a robust fence and hire armed guards to protect it, but a producer of information or an intellectual good can usually do very little to stop their first buyer from replicating it and selling it at a lower price. Balancing rights so that they are strong enough to encourage the creation of intellectual goods but not so strong that they prevent the goods' wide use is the primary focus of modern intellectual property law.[7]

The first known use of the term intellectual property dates to 1769, when a piece published in the Monthly Review used the phrase,[9] the first clear example of modern usage goes back as early as 1808, when it was used as a heading title in a collection of essays.[10]

The organization subsequently relocated to Geneva in 1960, and was succeeded in 1967 with the establishment of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) by treaty as an agency of the United Nations. According to Lemley, it was only at this point that the term really began to be used in the United States (which had not been a party to the Berne Convention),[4] and it did not enter popular usage there until passage of the Bayh-Dole Act in 1980.[12]

"The history of patents does not begin with inventions, but rather with royal grants by Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603) for monopoly privileges... Approximately 200 years after the end of Elizabeth's reign, however, a patent represents a legal right obtained by an inventor providing for exclusive control over the production and sale of his mechanical or scientific invention... [demonstrating] the evolution of patents from royal prerogative to common-law doctrine."[13]

The term can be found used in an October 1845 Massachusetts Circuit Court ruling in the patent case Davoll et al. v. Brown., in which Justice Charles L. Woodbury wrote that "only in this way can we protect intellectual property, the labors of the mind, productions and interests are as much a man's own...as the wheat he cultivates, or the flocks he rears."[14] The statement that "discoveries are..property" goes back earlier. Section 1 of the French law of 1791 stated, "All new discoveries are the property of the author; to assure the inventor the property and temporary enjoyment of his discovery, there shall be delivered to him a patent for five, ten or fifteen years."[15] In Europe, French author A. Nion mentioned propriété intellectuelle in his Droits civils des auteurs, artistes et inventeurs, published in 1846.

Until recently, the purpose of intellectual property law was to give as little protection as possible in order to encourage innovation. Historically, therefore, they were granted only when they were necessary to encourage invention, limited in time and scope,[16] this is mainly as a result of knowledge being traditionally viewed as a public good, in order to allow its extensive dissemination and improvement thereof.[17]

The concept's origins can potentially be traced back further. Jewish law includes several considerations whose effects are similar to those of modern intellectual property laws, though the notion of intellectual creations as property does not seem to exist – notably the principle of Hasagat Ge'vul (unfair encroachment) was used to justify limited-term publisher (but not author) copyright in the 16th century.[18] In 500 BCE, the government of the Greek state of Sybaris offered one year's patent "to all who should discover any new refinement in luxury".[19]

According to Morin, "the global intellectual property regime is currently in the midst of a paradigm shift".[20] Indeed, up until the early 2000s the global IP regime used to be dominated by high standards of protection characteristic of IP laws from Europe or the United States, with a vision that uniform application of these standards over every country and to several fields with little consideration over social, cultural or environmental values or of the national level of economic development. Morin argues that "the emerging discourse of the global IP regime advocates for greater policy flexibility and greater access to knowledge, especially for developing countries." Indeed, with the Development Agenda adopted by WIPO in 2007, a set of 45 recommendations to adjust WIPO’s activities to the specific needs of developing countries and aim to reduce distortions especially on issues such as patients’ access to medicines, Internet users’ access to information, farmers’ access to seeds, programmers’ access to source codes or students’ access to scientific articles.[21] However, this paradigm shift has not yet manifested itself in concrete legal reforms at the international level.[22]

Similarly, it is based on these background that the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement requires members of the WTO to set minimum standards of legal protection, but its objective to have a “one-fits-all” protection law on Intellectual Property has been viewed with controversies regarding differences in the development level of countries, despite the controversy, the agreement has extensively incorporated intellectual property rights into the global trading system for the first time in 1995, and has prevailed as the most comprehensive agreement reached by the world.[23]

A patent is a form of right granted by the government to an inventor, giving the owner the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering to sell, and importing an invention for a limited period of time, in exchange for the public disclosure of the invention. An invention is a solution to a specific technological problem, which may be a product or a process and generally has to fulfill three main requirements: it has to be new, not obvious and there needs to be an industrial applicability.[25]:17 To enrich the body of knowledge and stimulate innovation, it is an obligation for patent owners to disclose valuable information about their inventions to the public.[26]

A copyright gives the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time. Copyright may apply to a wide range of creative, intellectual, or artistic forms, or "works".[27][28] Copyright does not cover ideas and information themselves, only the form or manner in which they are expressed.[29]

An industrial design right (sometimes called "design right" or design patent) protects the visual design of objects that are not purely utilitarian. An industrial design consists of the creation of a shape, configuration or composition of pattern or color, or combination of pattern and color in three-dimensional form containing aesthetic value. An industrial design can be a two- or three-dimensional pattern used to produce a product, industrial commodity or handicraft. Generally speaking, it is what makes a product look appealing, and as such, it increases the commercial value of goods.[30]

Plant breeders' rights or plant variety rights are the rights to commercially use a new variety of a plant. The variety must amongst others be novel and distinct and for registration the evaluation of propagating material of the variety is considered.

Trade dress is a legal term of art that generally refers to characteristics of the visual and aesthetic appearance of a product or its packaging (or even the design of a building) that signify the source of the product to consumers.[34]

A trade secret is a formula, practice, process, design, instrument, pattern, or compilation of information which is not generally known or reasonably ascertainable, by which a business can obtain an economic advantage over competitors and customers. There is no formal government protection granted; each business must take measures to guard its own trade secrets (e.g., Formula of its soft drinks is a trade secret for Coca-Cola.)

The main purpose of intellectual property law is to encourage the creation of a wide variety of intellectual goods for consumers.[5] To achieve this, the law gives people and businesses property rights to the information and intellectual goods they create, usually for a limited period of time, because they can then profit from them, this gives economic incentive for their creation.[5] The intangible nature of intellectual property presents difficulties when compared with traditional property like land or goods. Unlike traditional property, intellectual property is indivisible – an unlimited number of people can "consume" an intellectual good without it being depleted. Additionally, investments in intellectual goods suffer from problems of appropriation – while a landowner can surround their land with a robust fence and hire armed guards to protect it, a producer of information or an intellectual good can usually do very little to stop their first buyer from replicating it and selling it at a lower price. Balancing rights so that they are strong enough to encourage the creation of information and intellectual goods but not so strong that they prevent their wide use is the primary focus of modern intellectual property law.[7]

By exchanging limited exclusive rights for disclosure of inventions and creative works, society and the patentee/copyright owner mutually benefit, and an incentive is created for inventors and authors to create and disclose their work, some commentators have noted that the objective of intellectual property legislators and those who support its implementation appears to be "absolute protection". "If some intellectual property is desirable because it encourages innovation, they reason, more is better. The thinking is that creators will not have sufficient incentive to invent unless they are legally entitled to capture the full social value of their inventions",[16] this absolute protection or full value view treats intellectual property as another type of "real" property, typically adopting its law and rhetoric. Other recent developments in intellectual property law, such as the America Invents Act, stress international harmonization. Recently there has also been much debate over the desirability of using intellectual property rights to protect cultural heritage, including intangible ones, as well as over risks of commodification derived from this possibility,[35] the issue still remains open in legal scholarship.

These exclusive rights allow owners of intellectual property to benefit from the property they have created, providing a financial incentive for the creation of an investment in intellectual property, and, in case of patents, pay associated research and development costs;[36] in the United States Article I Section 8 Clause 8 of the Constitution, commonly called the Patent and Copyright Clause, reads; "[The Congress shall have power] 'To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.'"[37] ”Some commentators, such as David Levine and Michele Boldrin, dispute this justification.[38]

In 2013 the United States Patent & Trademark Office approximated that the worth of intellectual property to the U.S. economy is more than US $5 trillion and creates employment for an estimated 18 million American people. The value of intellectual property is considered similarly high in other developed nations, such as those in the European Union;[39] in the UK, IP has become a recognised asset class for use in pension-led funding and other types of business finance. However, in 2013, the UK Intellectual Property Office stated: "There are millions of intangible business assets whose value is either not being leveraged at all, or only being leveraged inadvertently".[40]

The WIPO treaty and several related international agreements underline that the protection of intellectual property rights is essential to maintaining economic growth, the WIPO Intellectual Property Handbook gives two reasons for intellectual property laws:

One is to give statutory expression to the moral and economic rights of creators in their creations and the rights of the public in access to those creations, the second is to promote, as a deliberate act of Government policy, creativity and the dissemination and application of its results and to encourage fair trading which would contribute to economic and social development.[41]

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) states that "effective enforcement of intellectual property rights is critical to sustaining economic growth across all industries and globally".[42]

Economists estimate that two-thirds of the value of large businesses in the United States can be traced to intangible assets.[43] "IP-intensive industries" are estimated to generate 72 percent more value added (price minus material cost) per employee than "non-IP-intensive industries".[44][dubious– discuss]

A joint research project of the WIPO and the United Nations University measuring the impact of IP systems on six Asian countries found "a positive correlation between the strengthening of the IP system and subsequent economic growth."[45]

According to Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, "everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author".[46] Although the relationship between intellectual property and human rights is a complex one,[47] there are moral arguments for intellectual property.

The arguments that justify intellectual property fall into three major categories. Personality theorists believe intellectual property is an extension of an individual. Utilitarians believe that intellectual property stimulates social progress and pushes people to further innovation. Lockeans argue that intellectual property is justified based on deservedness and hard work.[48]

Various moral justifications for private property can be used to argue in favor of the morality of intellectual property, such as:

Natural Rights/Justice Argument: this argument is based on Locke's idea that a person has a natural right over the labour and/or products which is produced by his/her body. Appropriating these products is viewed as unjust, although Locke had never explicitly stated that natural right applied to products of the mind,[49] it is possible to apply his argument to intellectual property rights, in which it would be unjust for people to misuse another's ideas.[50] Locke's argument for intellectual property is based upon the idea that laborers have the right to control that which they create, they argue that we own our bodies which are the laborers, this right of ownership extends to what we create. Thus, intellectual property ensures this right when it comes to production.

Utilitarian-Pragmatic Argument: according to this rationale, a society that protects private property is more effective and prosperous than societies that do not. Innovation and invention in 19th century America has been attributed to the development of the patent system.[51] By providing innovators with "durable and tangible return on their investment of time, labor, and other resources", intellectual property rights seek to maximize social utility,[52] the presumption is that they promote public welfare by encouraging the "creation, production, and distribution of intellectual works".[52] Utilitarians argue that without intellectual property there would be a lack of incentive to produce new ideas. Systems of protection such as Intellectual property optimize social utility.

"Personality" Argument: this argument is based on a quote from Hegel: "Every man has the right to turn his will upon a thing or make the thing an object of his will, that is to say, to set aside the mere thing and recreate it as his own".[53] European intellectual property law is shaped by this notion that ideas are an "extension of oneself and of one's personality".[54] Personality theorists argue that by being a creator of something one is inherently at risk and vulnerable for having their ideas and designs stolen and/or altered. Intellectual property protects these moral claims that have to do with personality.

Lysander Spooner (1855) argues "that a man has a natural and absolute right—and if a natural and absolute, then necessarily a perpetual, right—of property, in the ideas, of which he is the discoverer or creator; that his right of property, in ideas, is intrinsically the same as, and stands on identically the same grounds with, his right of property in material things; that no distinction, of principle, exists between the two cases".[55]

Writer Ayn Rand argued in her book Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal that the protection of intellectual property is essentially a moral issue, the belief is that the human mind itself is the source of wealth and survival and that all property at its base is intellectual property. To violate intellectual property is therefore no different morally than violating other property rights which compromises the very processes of survival and therefore constitutes an immoral act.[56]

Violation of intellectual property rights, called "infringement" with respect to patents, copyright, and trademarks, and "misappropriation" with respect to trade secrets, may be a breach of civil law or criminal law, depending on the type of intellectual property involved, jurisdiction, and the nature of the action.

As of 2011 trade in counterfeit copyrighted and trademarked works was a $600 billion industry worldwide and accounted for 5–7% of global trade.[57]

Patent infringement typically is caused by using or selling a patented invention without permission from the patent holder, the scope of the patented invention or the extent of protection[58] is defined in the claims of the granted patent. There is safe harbor in many jurisdictions to use a patented invention for research, this safe harbor does not exist in the US unless the research is done for purely philosophical purposes, or in order to gather data in order to prepare an application for regulatory approval of a drug.[59] In general, patent infringement cases are handled under civil law (e.g., in the United States) but several jurisdictions incorporate infringement in criminal law also (for example, Argentina, China, France, Japan, Russia, South Korea).[60]

Copyright infringement is reproducing, distributing, displaying or performing a work, or to make derivative works, without permission from the copyright holder, which is typically a publisher or other business representing or assigned by the work's creator, it is often called "piracy".[61] While copyright is created the instant a work is fixed, generally the copyright holder can only get money damages if the owner registers the copyright.[citation needed] Enforcement of copyright is generally the responsibility of the copyright holder,[62] the ACTA trade agreement, signed in May 2011 by the United States, Japan, Switzerland, and the EU, and which has not entered into force, requires that its parties add criminal penalties, including incarceration and fines, for copyright and trademark infringement, and obligated the parties to active police for infringement.[57][63] There are limitations and exceptions to copyright, allowing limited use of copyrighted works, which does not constitute infringement. Examples of such doctrines are the fair use and fair dealing doctrine.

Trademark infringement occurs when one party uses a trademark that is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark owned by another party, in relation to products or services which are identical or similar to the products or services of the other party; in many countries, a trademark receives protection without registration, but registering a trademark provides legal advantages for enforcement. Infringement can be addressed by civil litigation and, in several jurisdictions, under criminal law.[57][63]

Trade secret misappropriation is different from violations of other intellectual property laws, since by definition trade secrets are secret, while patents and registered copyrights and trademarks are publicly available; in the United States, trade secrets are protected under state law, and states have nearly universally adopted the Uniform Trade Secrets Act. The United States also has federal law in the form of the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 (18 U.S.C.§§ 1831–1839), which makes the theft or misappropriation of a trade secret a federal crime. This law contains two provisions criminalizing two sorts of activity, the first, 18 U.S.C.§ 1831(a), criminalizes the theft of trade secrets to benefit foreign powers. The second, 18 U.S.C.§ 1832, criminalizes their theft for commercial or economic purposes. (The statutory penalties are different for the two offenses.) In Commonwealthcommon law jurisdictions, confidentiality and trade secrets are regarded as an equitable right rather than a property right but penalties for theft are roughly the same as in the United States.[citation needed]

Criticism of the term intellectual property ranges from discussing its vagueness and abstract overreach to direct contention to the semantic validity of using words like property and rights in fashions that contradict practice and law. Many detractors think this term specially serves the doctrinal agenda of parties opposing reform in the public interest or otherwise abusing related legislations; and that it disallows intelligent discussion about specific and often unrelated aspects of copyright, patents, trademarks, etc.[64]

Free Software Foundation founder Richard Stallman argues that, although the term intellectual property is in wide use, it should be rejected altogether, because it "systematically distorts and confuses these issues, and its use was and is promoted by those who gain from this confusion". He claims that the term "operates as a catch-all to lump together disparate laws [which] originated separately, evolved differently, cover different activities, have different rules, and raise different public policy issues" and that it creates a "bias" by confusing these monopolies with ownership of limited physical things, likening them to "property rights".[65] Stallman advocates referring to copyrights, patents and trademarks in the singular and warns against abstracting disparate laws into a collective term, he argues that "to avoid spreading unnecessary bias and confusion, it is best to adopt a firm policy not to speak or even think in terms of 'intellectual property'."[66]

Similarly, economists Boldrin and Levine prefer to use the term "intellectual monopoly" as a more appropriate and clear definition of the concept, which they argue, is very dissimilar from property rights.[67] They further argued that “stronger patents do little or nothing to encourage innovation”, mainly explained by its tendency to create market monopolies, thereby restricting further innovations and technology transfer.[68]

On the assumption that intellectual property rights are actual rights, Stallman says that this claim does not live to the historical intentions behind these laws, which in the case of copyright served as a censorship system, and later on, a regulatory model for the printing press that may have benefited authors incidentally, but never interfered with the freedom of average readers.[69] Still referring to copyright, he cites legal literature such as the United States Constitution and case law to demonstrate that the law is meant to be an optional and experimental bargain to temporarily trade property rights and free speech for public, not private, benefits in the form of increased artistic production and knowledge, he mentions that "if copyright were a natural right nothing could justify terminating this right after a certain period of time".[70]

Law professor, writer and political activist Lawrence Lessig, along with many other copyleft and free software activists, has criticized the implied analogy with physical property (like land or an automobile), they argue such an analogy fails because physical property is generally rivalrous while intellectual works are non-rivalrous (that is, if one makes a copy of a work, the enjoyment of the copy does not prevent enjoyment of the original).[71][72] Other arguments along these lines claim that unlike the situation with tangible property, there is no natural scarcity of a particular idea or information: once it exists at all, it can be re-used and duplicated indefinitely without such re-use diminishing the original. Stephan Kinsella has objected to intellectual property on the grounds that the word "property" implies scarcity, which may not be applicable to ideas.[73]

Entrepreneur and politician Rickard Falkvinge and hackerAlexandre Oliva have independently compared George Orwell's fictional dialect Newspeak to the terminology used by intellectual property supporters as a linguistic weapon to shape public opinion regarding copyright debate and DRM.[74][75]

In civil law jurisdictions, intellectual property has often been referred to as intellectual rights, traditionally a somewhat broader concept that has included moral rights and other personal protections that cannot be bought or sold. Use of the term intellectual rights has declined since the early 1980s, as use of the term intellectual property has increased.

Alternative terms monopolies on information and intellectual monopoly have emerged among those who argue against the "property" or "intellect" or "rights" assumptions, notably Richard Stallman. The backronymsintellectual protectionism and intellectual poverty,[76] whose initials are also IP, have found supporters as well, especially among those who have used the backronym digital restrictions management.[77][78]

The argument that an intellectual property right should (in the interests of better balancing of relevant private and public interests) be termed an intellectual monopoly privilege (IMP) has been advanced by several academics including Birgitte Andersen[79] and Thomas Alured Faunce.[80]

Overall, the weight of the existing historical evidence suggests that patent policies, which grant strong intellectual property rights to early generations of inventors, may discourage innovation, on the contrary, policies that encourage the diffusion of ideas and modify patent laws to facilitate entry and encourage competition may be an effective mechanism to encourage innovation.[87]

In support of that argument, Jörg Baten, Nicola Bianchi and Petra Moser[88] find historical evidence that especially compulsory licensing – which allows governments to license patents without the consent of patent-owners – encouraged invention in Germany in the early 20th century by increasing the threat of competition in fields with low pre-existing levels of competition.

Peter Drahos notes, "Property rights confer authority over resources. When authority is granted to the few over resources on which many depend, the few gain power over the goals of the many, this has consequences for both political and economic freedoms with in a society."[89]:13

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) recognizes that conflicts may exist between the respect for and implementation of current intellectual property systems and other human rights.[90] In 2001 the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights issued a document called "Human rights and intellectual property" that argued that intellectual property tends to be governed by economic goals when it should be viewed primarily as a social product; in order to serve human well-being, intellectual property systems must respect and conform to human rights laws. According to the Committee, when systems fail to do so they risk infringing upon the human right to food and health, and to cultural participation and scientific benefits;[91][92] in 2004 the General Assembly of WIPO adopted The Geneva Declaration on the Future of the World Intellectual Property Organization which argues that WIPO should "focus more on the needs of developing countries, and to view IP as one of many tools for development—not as an end in itself".[93]

Further along these lines, The ethical problems brought up by IP rights are most pertinent when it is socially valuable goods like life-saving medicines are given IP protection. While the application of IP rights can allow companies to charge higher than the marginal cost of production in order to recoup the costs of research and development, the price may exclude from the market anyone who cannot afford the cost of the product, in this case a life-saving drug.[94] "An IPR driven regime is therefore not a regime that is conductive to the investment of R&D of products that are socially valuable to predominately poor populations".[94]:1108–9

[I]magine the time when men lived in caves. One bright guy—let's call him Galt-Magnon—decides to build a log cabin on an open field, near his crops. To be sure, this is a good idea, and others notice it, they naturally imitate Galt-Magnon, and they start building their own cabins. But the first man to invent a house, according to IP advocates, would have a right to prevent others from building houses on their own land, with their own logs, or to charge them a fee if they do build houses, it is plain that the innovator in these examples becomes a partial owner of the tangible property (e.g., land and logs) of others, due not to first occupation and use of that property (for it is already owned), but due to his coming up with an idea. Clearly, this rule flies in the face of the first-user homesteading rule, arbitrarily and groundlessly overriding the very homesteading rule that is at the foundation of all property rights.[95]

"If nature has made any one thing less susceptible than all others of exclusive property, it is the action of the thinking power called an idea, which an individual may exclusively possess as long as he keeps it to himself; but the moment it is divulged, it forces itself into the possession of every one, and the receiver cannot dispossess himself of it. Its peculiar character, too, is that no one possesses the less, because every other possesses the whole of it, he who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me."[96]

In 2005 the RSA launched the Adelphi Charter, aimed at creating an international policy statement to frame how governments should make balanced intellectual property law.[97]

Another aspect of current U.S. Intellectual Property legislation is its focus on individual and joint works; thus, copyright protection can only be obtained in 'original' works of authorship.[98]

Expansion of U.S. copyright law (Assuming authors create their works by age 35 and live for seventy years)

Other criticism of intellectual property law concerns the expansion of intellectual property, both in duration and in scope.

In addition, as scientific knowledge has expanded and allowed new industries to arise in fields such as biotechnology and nanotechnology, originators of technology have sought IP protection for the new technologies. Patents have been granted for living organisms,[99] (and in the United States, certain living organisms have been patentable for over a century).[100]

The increase in terms of protection is particularly seen in relation to copyright, which has recently been the subject of serial extensions in the United States and in Europe.[71][101][102][103][104] With no need for registration or copyright notices, this is thought to have led to an increase in orphan works (copyrighted works for which the copyright owner cannot be contacted), a problem that has been noticed and addressed by governmental bodies around the world.[105]

Also with respect to copyright, the American film industry helped to change the social construct of intellectual property via its trade organization, the Motion Picture Association of America. In amicus briefs in important cases, in lobbying before Congress, and in its statements to the public, the MPAA has advocated strong protection of intellectual-property rights; in framing its presentations, the association has claimed that people are entitled to the property that is produced by their labor. Additionally Congress's awareness of the position of the United States as the world's largest producer of films has made it convenient to expand the conception of intellectual property,[106] these doctrinal reforms have further strengthened the industry, lending the MPAA even more power and authority.[107]

RIAA representative Hilary Rosen testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the future of digital music (July 11, 2000)

The growth of the Internet, and particularly distributed search engines like Kazaa and Gnutella, have represented a challenge for copyright policy. The Recording Industry Association of America, in particular, has been on the front lines of the fight against copyright infringement, which the industry calls "piracy". The industry has had victories against some services, including a highly publicized case against the file-sharing company Napster, and some people have been prosecuted for sharing files in violation of copyright, the electronic age has seen an increase in the attempt to use software-based digital rights management tools to restrict the copying and use of digitally based works. Laws such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act have been enacted that use criminal law to prevent any circumvention of software used to enforce digital rights management systems. Equivalent provisions, to prevent circumvention of copyright protection have existed in EU for some time, and are being expanded in, for example, Article 6 and 7 the Copyright Directive. Other examples are Article 7 of the Software Directive of 1991 (91/250/EEC), and the Conditional Access Directive of 1998 (98/84/EEC), this can hinder legal uses, affecting public domain works, limitations and exceptions to copyright, or uses allowed by the copyright holder. Some copyleft licenses, like GNU GPL 3, are designed to counter that.[108] Laws may permit circumvention under specific conditions like when it is necessary to achieve interoperability with the circumventor's program, or for accessibility reasons; however, distribution of circumvention tools or instructions may be illegal.

In the context of trademarks, this expansion has been driven by international efforts to harmonise the definition of "trademark", as exemplified by the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights ratified in 1994, which formalized regulations for IP rights that had been handled by common law, or not at all, in member states. Pursuant to TRIPs, any sign which is "capable of distinguishing" the products or services of one business from the products or services of another business is capable of constituting a trademark.[109]

"It is hard to imagine any business, under the current [Irish] IP regime, which could not generate substantial intangible assets under Irish GAAP that would be eligible for relief under [the Irish] capital allowances [for intangible assets scheme]." "This puts the attractive 2.5% Irish IP-tax rate within reach of almost any global business that relocates to Ireland."

Intellectual property has become a core tool in corporate tax planning and tax avoidance.[112][113][114] IP is a key component of the leading multinational tax avoidance base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) tools,[115][116] which the OECD estimates costs $100-240 billion in lost annual tax revenues,[117] and includes:

Using advanced IP GAAP accounting to maximize the effect of corporate relocations to low-tax regimes (used by Accenture in their 2009 U.S. corporate tax inversion to Ireland).[123]

In 2017-2018, both the U.S. and the EU Commission simultaneously decided to depart from the OECD BEPS Project timetable, which was set up in 2013 to combat IP BEPS tax tools like the above,[117] and launch their own anti-IP BEPS tax regimes:

EU Commission 2018 Digital Services Tax, which is less advanced than the U.S. TCJA, but does seek to override IP BEPS tools via a quasi-VAT.[127][128][129]

The departure of the U.S. and EU Commission from the OECD BEPS Project process, is attributed to frustrations with the rise in IP as a key BEPS tax tool, creating intangible assets, which are then turned into royalty payment BEPS schemes (double Irish), and/or capital allowance BEPS schemes (capital allowances for intangibles). In contrast, the OECD has spent years developing and advocating intellectual property as a legal and a GAAP accounting concept.[130]

^Charles Anthon, A Classical Dictionary: Containing an Account of the Principal Proper Names Mentioned in Ancient Authors, and Intended to Elucidate All the Important Points Connected with the Geography, History, Biography, Mythology, and Fine Arts of the Greek and Romans. Together with an Account of Coins, Weights, and Measures, with Tabular Values of the Same 1273 (Harper & Brothers 1841). See also "The first patent law was enacted in Sybaris, a city in the South of Italy, before the Roman domination; (…) The law was mentioned by Atheneus, an ancient writer..." in Takenaka, Toshiko (2013). Intellectual Property in Common Law and Civil Law. Edward Elgar Publishing. p. 419. (chapter by Mario Franzosi).

^Article 1(2) of the Paris Convention: "The protection of industrial property has as its object patents, utility models, industrial designs, trademarks, service marks, trade names, indications of source or appellations of origin, and the repression of unfair competition."

^Ronald V. Bettig. "Critical Perspectives on the History and Philosophy of Copyright" in Copyrighting Culture: The Political Economy of Intellectual Property, by Ronald V. Bettig. (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1996), 19–20

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Copyright
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Copyright is a legal right created by the law of a country that grants the creator of an original work exclusive rights for its use and distribution. This is usually only for a limited time, the exclusive rights are not absolute but limited by limitations and exceptions to copyright law, including fair use. A major limitation on copyright is that copyright protects only the expression of ideas. Copyright is a form of property, applicable to certain forms of creative work. Some, but not all jurisdictions require fixing copyrighted works in a tangible form and it is often shared among multiple authors, each of whom holds a set of rights to use or license the work, and who are commonly referred to as rights holders. These rights frequently include reproduction, control over derivative works, distribution, public performance, copyrights are considered territorial rights, which means that they do not extend beyond the territory of a specific jurisdiction. While many aspects of copyright laws have been standardized through international copyright agreements. Typically, the duration of a copyright spans the authors life plus 50 to 100 years, some countries require certain copyright formalities to establishing copyright, but most recognize copyright in any completed work, without formal registration. Generally, copyright is enforced as a matter, though some jurisdictions do apply criminal sanctions. Most jurisdictions recognize copyright limitations, allowing fair exceptions to the exclusivity of copyright. Copyright came about with the invention of the press and with wider literacy. As a legal concept, its origins in Britain were from a reaction to printers monopolies at the beginning of the 18th century, Copyright laws allow products of creative human activities, such as literary and artistic production, to be preferentially exploited and thus incentivized. Different cultural attitudes, social organizations, economic models and legal frameworks are seen to account for why copyright emerged in Europe and not, for example, however, with copyright laws, intellectual production comes to be seen as a product of an individual, with attendant rights. The most significant point is that patent and copyright laws support the expansion of the range of human activities that can be commodified. This parallels the ways in which led to the commodification of many aspects of social life that earlier had no monetary or economic value per se. Often seen as the first real copyright law, the 1709 British Statute of Anne gave the rights for a fixed period. The act also alluded to individual rights of the artist and it began, Whereas Printers, Booksellers, and other Persons, have of late frequently taken the Liberty of Printing. Books, and other Writings, without the Consent of the Authors. to their very great Detriment, and too often to the Ruin of them and their Families

2.
Patent
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A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for detailed public disclosure of an invention. An invention is a solution to a technological problem and is a product or a process. Patents are a form of intellectual property, the procedure for granting patents, requirements placed on the patentee, and the extent of the exclusive rights vary widely between countries according to national laws and international agreements. Typically, however, a patent application must include one or more claims that define the invention. A patent may include many claims, each of which defines a specific property right and these claims must meet relevant patentability requirements, such as novelty, usefulness, and non-obviousness. Nevertheless, there are variations on what is patentable subject matter from country to country, the word patent originates from the Latin patere, which means to lay open. More directly, it is a version of the term letters patent. Similar grants included land patents, which were land grants by early state governments in the USA, and printing patents, a precursor of modern copyright. In modern usage, the term patent usually refers to the granted to anyone who invents any new, useful. The additional qualification utility patent is used to distinguish the primary meaning from these other types of patents. Particular species of patents for inventions include biological patents, business method patents, chemical patents, the period of protection was 10 years. These were mostly in the field of glass making, as Venetians emigrated, they sought similar patent protection in their new homes. This led to the diffusion of patent systems to other countries, by the 16th century, the English Crown would habitually abuse the granting of letters patent for monopolies. After public outcry, King James I of England was forced to revoke all existing monopolies, the Statute became the foundation for later developments in patent law in England and elsewhere. Important developments in patent law emerged during the 18th century through a process of judicial interpretation of the law. During the reign of Queen Anne, patent applications were required to supply a complete specification of the principles of operation of the invention for public access. Influenced by the philosophy of John Locke, the granting of patents began to be viewed as a form of property right. The English legal system became the foundation for patent law in countries with a common law heritage, including the United States, New Zealand, in the Thirteen Colonies, inventors could obtain patents through petition to a given colonys legislature

3.
Trademark
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The trademark owner can be an individual, business organization, or any legal entity. A trademark may be located on a package, a label, for the sake of corporate identity, trademarks are often displayed on company buildings. A trademark identifies the owner of a particular product or service. The unauthorized usage of trademarks by producing and trading counterfeit consumer goods is known as brand piracy, the owner of a trademark may pursue legal action against trademark infringement. Most countries require formal registration of a trademark as a precondition for pursuing this type of action, the United States, Canada and other countries also recognize common law trademark rights, which means action can be taken to protect an unregistered trademark if it is in use. Still, common law trademarks offer the holder in general less legal protection than registered trademarks. A trademark may be designated by the symbols, ™ ℠ ® A trademark is typically a name, word, phrase, logo, symbol, design, image. There is also a range of non-conventional trademarks comprising marks which do not fall into these categories, such as those based on colour, smell. Trademarks which are considered offensive are often rejected according to a nations trademark law, the term trademark is also used informally to refer to any distinguishing attribute by which an individual is readily identified, such as the well-known characteristics of celebrities. When a trademark is used in relation to services rather than products, it may sometimes be called a service mark, in other words, trademarks serve to identify a particular business as the source of goods or services. The use of a trademark in this way is known as trademark use, certain exclusive rights attach to a registered mark. Different goods and services have been classified by the International Classification of Goods, in trademark treatises it is usually reported that blacksmiths who made swords in the Roman Empire are thought of as being the first users of trademarks. Other notable trademarks that have used for a long time include Löwenbräu. The first trademark legislation was passed by the Parliament of England under the reign of King Henry III in 1266, the first modern trademark laws emerged in the late 19th century. In France the first comprehensive system in the world was passed into law in 1857 with the Manufacture. In Britain, the Merchandise Marks Act 1862 made it an offense to imitate anothers trade mark with intent to defraud or to enable another to defraud. In 1875 the Trade Marks Registration Act was passed which allowed formal registration of marks at the UK Patent Office for the first time. Registration was considered to comprise prima facie evidence of ownership of a trade mark, in the United States, Congress first attempted to establish a federal trademark regime in 1870

4.
Trade secret
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The precise language by which a trade secret is defined varies by jurisdiction. These three aspects are incorporated in the TRIPS Agreement in Article 39. By comparison, under U. S. law, A trade secret, §1839, has three parts, information, reasonable measures taken to protect the information, and which derives independent economic value from not being publicly known. Trade secrets are an important, but invisible component of an intellectual property. Their contribution to a value, measured as its market capitalization. Being invisible, that contribution is hard to measure, patents are a visible contribution, but delayed, and unsuitable for internal innovations. Having an internal scoreboard provides insight into the cost of risks of leaving to serve or start competing ventures. In contrast to registered intellectual property, trade secrets are, by definition, instead, owners of trade secrets seek to protect trade secret information from competitors by instituting special procedures for handling it, as well as technological and legal security measures. Legal protections include non-disclosure agreements, and work-for-hire and non-compete clauses, violation of the agreement generally carries the possibility of heavy financial penalties which operate as a disincentive to reveal trade secrets. However, proving a breach of an NDA by a stakeholder who is legally working for a competitor or prevailing in a lawsuit for breaching a non-compete clause can be very difficult. A holder of a secret may also require similar agreements from other parties he or she deals with, such as vendors, licensees. Therefore, trade secrets such as secret formulae are often protected by restricting the key information to a few trusted individuals, famous examples of products protected by trade secrets are Chartreuse liqueur and Coca-Cola. In fact, Coca-Cola refused to reveal its trade secret under at least two judges orders, acts of industrial espionage are generally illegal in their own right under the relevant governing laws, and penalties can be harsh. The importance of that illegality to trade secret law is, if a secret is acquired by improper means. Thus, if a secret has been acquired via industrial espionage. Commentators starting with A. Arthur Schiller assert that trades secrets were protected under Roman law by a known as actio servi corrupti. The Roman law is described as follows, he Roman owner of a mark or firm name was protected against unfair usage by a competitor through the actio servi corrupti. Which the Roman jurists used to grant commercial relief under the guise of private law actions

5.
Indigenous intellectual property
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The first international congress of the International Society of Ethnobiology involving anthropologists, biologists, chemists, sociologists, and indigenous peoples met at Belem, Brazil. They identified themselves collectively as ethnobiologists, and announced that since Indigenous cultures around the world are being disrupted and destroyed, specific reference is made within the Indigenous Peoples Earth Charter to perceived abuses of indigenous peoples intellectual and cultural properties. 104, The protection, norms and mechanism of artistic and artisan creation of our peoples must be established and implemented in order to plunder, plagiarism, undue exposure. Representatives affirmed a policy on the exploitation of Lakota, Dakota and Nakota ceremonial knowledge. Aboriginal intellectual property, within Aboriginal Common Law, is an inherent, inalienable right which cannot be terminated, extinguished, any use of the intellectual property of Aboriginal Nations and Peoples may only be done in accordance with Aboriginal Common Law, and any unauthorised use is strictly prohibited. Work must be conducted on the design of a protection and recognition system which is in accordance with. our own conception, which will prevent appropriation of our resources and knowledge. In particular participants, Reaffirme that imperialism is perpetuated through intellectual property rights systems, incorporate the concerns of Indigenous peoples. into legislation. Strengthen the capacities of Indigenous peoples to maintain their oral traditions, according to their customary access procedures. Our traditional knowledge is not in the domain, it is collective. Unauthorized use and misappropriation of traditional knowledge is theft, at the United Nations General Assemblys 61st session, on 13 September 2007, an overwhelming majority of members resolved to adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Regarding the intellectual property rights of peoples, the General Assembly recognized. Reaffirmed. that indigenous peoples possess collective rights which are indispensable for their existence, well-being, and solemnly proclaimed as an agreed standard for member nations around the world, Article 11, Indigenous peoples have the right to practise and revitalize their cultural traditions and customs. Article 24, Indigenous peoples have the right to their traditional medicines and to maintain their health practices, including the conservation of their vital medicinal plants, animals and minerals. They also have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their property over such cultural heritage, traditional knowledge. In conjunction with indigenous peoples, States shall take effective measures to recognize and they are transmitted from one generation to the next, and include handmade textiles, paintings, stories, legends, ceremonies, music, songs, rhythms and dance. Indigenous customary law can provide better protection, so alarming that it came to the attention of an international and intertribal group of medicine people and spiritual leaders called the Circle of Elders. One of the best known Plastic Shamans, Lynn Andrews, has been picketed by the Native communities in New York, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Seattle and other cities. Between 1998 and 2006, the Ngati Toa iwi attempted to trademark the Ka Mate haka, in 2009, as a part of a wider settlement of grievances, the New Zealand government agreed to. record the authorship and significance of the haka Ka Mate to Ngāti Toa and

6.
Industrial design right
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An industrial design right is an intellectual property right that protects the visual design of objects that are not purely utilitarian. An industrial design consists of the creation of a shape, configuration or composition of pattern or color, or combination of pattern, an industrial design can be a two- or three-dimensional pattern used to produce a product, industrial commodity or handicraft. Under the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs, a WIPO-administered treaty, to qualify for registration, the national laws of most member states of WIPO require the design to be novel. An applicant can file for a single international deposit with WIPO or with the office in a country party to the treaty. The design will then be protected in as many countries of the treaty as desired. Design rights started in the United Kingdom in 1787 with the Designing and Printing of Linen Act and have expanded from there, registering for an industrial design right is related to granting a patent. An industrial design is registrable if it is new, indias Design Act,2000 was enacted to consolidate and amend the law relating to protection of design and to comply with the articles 25 and 26 of TRIPS agreement. In Indonesia the protection of the Right to Industrial Design shall be granted for 10 years commencing from the filing date, Industrial Designs that are Granted Protection 1. The Right to Industrial Design shall be granted for an Industrial Design that is novel/new 2, an Industrial Design shall be deemed new if on the filing date, such Industrial Design is not the same as any previous disclosure. The previous disclosure as referred to in point 2 shall be one which before, the Priority Date, if the applicant is filed with priority right. Has been announced or used in Indonesia or out side Indonesia, an industrial design shall not be deemed to have been announced if within the period of 6 months at the latest before the filing date, such industrial design a. Has been displayed in a national or international exhibition in Indonesia or overseas that is official or deemed to be official, or, has been used in Indonesia by the designer in an experiment for the purposes of education, research or development. Canadian law affords ten years of protection to industrial designs that are registered, the articles being compared should not be examined side by side, but separate so that imperfect recollection comes into play. One is to look at the design as a whole and it must not be trivial or infinitesimal. The rule also applies to kits and substantial differences are in reference to previously published designs, Industrial designs can also serve to complement other forms of intellectual property rights such as patents and trade-marks. Protection for a community design is for up to 25 years. The unregistered community design lasts for three years after a design is available to the public and infringement only occurs if the protected design has been copied. Legislation given in Britain during the years 1787 to 1839 protected designs for textiles, the Copyright of Design Act passed in 1842 allowed other material designs, such as those for metal and earthenware objects, to be registered with a diamond mark to indicate the date of registration

7.
Opposition to copyright
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Adherents advocate for complete or partial change or remission of current legislation. Normally copyright is enforced within a framework of the Berne Convention, instituted by Victor Hugo, numerous international copyright treaties have since been passed, but copyright law is different in all countries. The classic argument for copyright is that granting creators temporary monopolies over works—giving them an income will encourage producing future works as well, in the context of the Internet and new technological advances, opponents argue that copyright law needs to be adapted to modern information technology. Pirate Cinema and groups like The League of Noble Peers advance more radical arguments, one well-publicised instance of electronic civil disobedience in the form of large scale intentional copyright infringement occurred on February 24,2004, in an event called Grey Tuesday. French group Association des audionautes is not anti-copyright per se, but proposes a system for copyright enforcement. Aziz Ridouan, co-founder of the group, proposes for France to legalise peer-to-peer file sharing, reportedly, major music companies have equated Ridouans proposal with legitimising piracy. Its the only solution, unless we want a more extensive control of what citizens do on the Internet. Universal Music Corp and Canadas Copyright Modernization Act, groups that argue for using existing copyright legal framework with special licences to achieve their goals, include the copyleft movement and Creative Commons. Creative Commons is not anti-copyright per se, but argues for use of more flexible, Creative Commons takes the position that there is an unmet demand for flexibility that allows the copyright owner to release work with only some rights reserved or even no rights reserved. According to Creative Commons many people do not regard default copyright as helping them in gaining the exposure, Creative Commons argue that their licences allow entrepreneurs and artists to employ innovative business models rather than all-out copyright to secure a return on their creative investment. Scholars and commentators in this field include Lawrence Liang, Jorge Cortell, Rasmus Fleischer, Stephan Kinsella, traditional anarchists, such as Leo Tolstoy, expressed their refusal to accept copyright. There is an argument that copyright is invalid because, unlike physical property and that is, infringing on copyright, unlike theft, does not deprive the victim of the original item, and so enforcement of copyright law constitutes aggression on the part of the state. It is entirely unclear that copyright laws are useful, even for the majority of authors. One of the founders of Piratbyrån, Rasmus Fleischer, argues that copyright law simply seems unable to cope with the Internet and he argues that the Internet, and particularly Web 2.0 have brought about the uncertain status of the very idea of stealing itself. He argues that in an attempt to rein in Web 2, Fleischer points out that Google, while still largely uncontested, operates in a gray zone of copyright. In contrast, others have pointed out that Google Books blocks-out large sections of those books, which motivates purchases. Groups such as Hipatia advance anti-copyright arguments in the name of freedom of knowledge and they argue that current copyright law hinders the realisation of these rights in todays knowledge societies relying on new technological means of communication. Such groups see copyright law as preventing or slowing human progress and they argue that the current copyright system needs to be brought into line with reality and the needs of society

8.
Bioprospecting
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Bioprospecting is the process of discovery and commercialization of new products based on biological resources. Despite indigenous knowledge being intuitively helpful, bioprospecting has only begun to incorporate such knowledge in focusing screening efforts for bioactive compounds. The rosy periwinkle case dates from the 1950s, the rosy periwinkle, while native to Madagascar, had been widely introduced into other tropical countries around the world well before the discovery of vincristine. This meant that researchers could obtain local knowledge from one country, the use of the plant as a cure for diabetes was the original stimulus for research. Effectiveness in the treatment of both Hodgkins Disease and leukemia were discovered instead, different countries are reported as having acquired different beliefs about the medical properties of the plant. The Hodgkins lymphoma chemotherapeutic drug vinblastine is derivable from the rosy periwinkle, in 1994, the U. S. WR Grace appealed, and lost that appeal in 2005. The Enola bean is a variety of Mexican yellow bean, so called after the wife of the man who patented it in 1999, the allegedly distinguishing feature of the variety is seeds of a specific shade of yellow. The patent-holder subsequently sued a number of importers of Mexican yellow beans with the following result. A lawsuit was filed on behalf of the farmers, and on April 14,2005 the US-PTO ruled in favor of the farmers, an appeal was heard on 16 January 2008, and the patent was revoked in May 2008. An appeal to the court against the revocation was unsuccessful, in 2000, the US corporation RiceTec attempted to patent certain hybrids of basmati rice and semidwarf long-grain rice. The Indian government intervened and several claims of the patent were invalidated, meanwhile, the European Commission has agreed to protect basmati rice under its regulations pertaining to geographical indications. Hoodia, a succulent plant, originates from the Kalahari Desert of South Africa, for generations it has been known to the traditionally living San people as an appetite suppressant. In 1996 South Africa’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research began working with companies, including Unilever, the following is a selection of some of the further cases in recent biopiracy studies. Most of them do not relate to traditional medicines, captopril One common misunderstanding is that pharmaceutical companies patent the plants they collect. While obtaining a patent on a naturally occurring organism as previously known or used is not possible, often these patents are obtained with a stated and researched use of those chemicals. Generally the existence, structure and synthesis of compounds is not a part of the indigenous medical knowledge that led researchers to analyze the plant in the first place. In the United States, patent law can be used to protect isolated and purified compounds - even, in one instance, in 1873, Louis Pasteur patented a yeast which was free from disease. Patents covering biological inventions have been treated similarly, the United States Patent and Trademark Office has observed that a patent on a gene covers the isolated and purified gene but does not cover the gene as it occurs in nature

9.
Orphan works
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An orphan work is a copyright protected work for which rightsholders are positively indeterminate or uncontactable. Sometimes the names of the originators or rightsholders are known, yet it is impossible to them because additional details cannot be found. A work can become orphaned through rightsholders being unaware of their holding, or by their demise, in other cases, comprehensively diligent research fails to determine any authors, creators or originators for a work. Precise figures of orphan works are not readily available, even libraries, archives. In April 2009, an estimated that the collections of public sector organisations in the UK hold about 25 million orphan works. Software which became a work is usually known as abandonware. The Computerspielemuseum Berlin estimates that around 50 % of their game collection consists of at least partial orphans. Source code escrow can prevent software orphaning but is seldom applied, in countries whose laws do not specifically allow for the use of orphan works, orphan works are not available for legal use by filmmakers, archivists, writers, musicians, and broadcasters. Currently only a fraction of old copyrighted works is available to the public, as of August 2008, the Board had issued 226 such licenses, and denied 7 applications. The European Commission, the branch of the European Union, created a report on Digital Preservation of Orphan Works. As of May 7,2010, the US continues to file required status reports and it will help cultural institutions to digitize books, films and music whose authors are unknown, making them available to the public online. In 2009 the Strategic Content Alliance and the Collections Trust published a report on the scope and impact of orphan works, in October 2012 the European Union adopted Directive 2012/28/EU on Orphan Works. The directive applies to works that were created in the EU as printed works, cinematographic and audio-visual works, phonograms. Under certain conditions, the directive can also apply to unpublished works, whether orphaned software and video games fall under the audiovisual works definition is a matter debated by scholars. On the 29th October 2014 the Intellectual Property Office launched an online licensing scheme for orphan works, hungary, India, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea have established state licensing options for orphan works. Copyright formalities Orphan film Orphaned technology Permission culture

10.
Public domain
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The term public domain has two senses of meaning. Anything published is out in the domain in the sense that it is available to the public. Once published, news and information in books is in the public domain, in the sense of intellectual property, works in the public domain are those whose exclusive intellectual property rights have expired, have been forfeited, or are inapplicable. Examples for works not covered by copyright which are therefore in the domain, are the formulae of Newtonian physics, cooking recipes. Examples for works actively dedicated into public domain by their authors are reference implementations of algorithms, NIHs ImageJ. The term is not normally applied to situations where the creator of a work retains residual rights, as rights are country-based and vary, a work may be subject to rights in one country and be in the public domain in another. Some rights depend on registrations on a basis, and the absence of registration in a particular country, if required. Although the term public domain did not come into use until the mid-18th century, the Romans had a large proprietary rights system where they defined many things that cannot be privately owned as res nullius, res communes, res publicae and res universitatis. The term res nullius was defined as not yet appropriated. The term res communes was defined as things that could be enjoyed by mankind, such as air, sunlight. The term res publicae referred to things that were shared by all citizens, when the first early copyright law was first established in Britain with the Statute of Anne in 1710, public domain did not appear. However, similar concepts were developed by British and French jurists in the eighteenth century, instead of public domain they used terms such as publici juris or propriété publique to describe works that were not covered by copyright law. The phrase fall in the domain can be traced to mid-nineteenth century France to describe the end of copyright term. In this historical context Paul Torremans describes copyright as a coral reef of private right jutting up from the ocean of the public domain. Because copyright law is different from country to country, Pamela Samuelson has described the public domain as being different sizes at different times in different countries. According to James Boyle this definition underlines common usage of the public domain and equates the public domain to public property. However, the usage of the public domain can be more granular. Such a definition regards work in copyright as private property subject to fair use rights, the materials that compose our cultural heritage must be free for all living to use no less than matter necessary for biological survival

11.
Capitalism
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Capitalism is an economic system based on private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Characteristics central to capitalism include private property, capital accumulation, wage labor, voluntary exchange, a price system, economists, political economists, and historians have adopted different perspectives in their analyses of capitalism and have recognized various forms of it in practice. These include laissez-faire or free market capitalism, welfare capitalism, different forms of capitalism feature varying degrees of free markets, public ownership, obstacles to free competition, and state-sanctioned social policies. Most existing capitalist economies are mixed economies, which elements of free markets with state intervention. Capitalism has existed under many forms of government, in different times, places. Following the decline of mercantilism, mixed capitalist systems became dominant in the Western world, Capitalism has been criticized for prioritizing profit over social good, natural resources, and the environment, and that is a cause of inequality and economic instabilities. Supporters believe that it provides better products through competition, and creates strong economic growth, the term capitalist, meaning an owner of capital, appears earlier than the term capitalism. It dates back to the mid-17th century, capitalist is derived from capital, which evolved from capitale, a late Latin word based on caput, meaning head – also the origin of chattel and cattle in the sense of movable property. Capitale emerged in the 12th to 13th centuries in the sense of referring to funds, stock of merchandise, sum of money, by 1283 it was used in the sense of the capital assets of a trading firm. It was frequently interchanged with a number of other words – wealth, money, funds, goods, assets, property, the Hollandische Mercurius uses capitalists in 1633 and 1654 to refer to owners of capital. In French, Étienne Clavier referred to capitalistes in 1788, six years before its first recorded English usage by Arthur Young in his work Travels in France, David Ricardo, in his Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, referred to the capitalist many times. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, an English poet, used capitalist in his work Table Talk, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon used the term capitalist in his first work, What is Property. To refer to the owners of capital, benjamin Disraeli used the term capitalist in his 1845 work Sybil. The initial usage of the term capitalism in its modern sense has been attributed to Louis Blanc in 1850, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels referred to the capitalistic system. And to the capitalist mode of production in Das Kapital, the use of the word capitalism in reference to an economic system appears twice in Volume I of Das Kapital, p.124, and in Theories of Surplus Value, tome II, p.493. Marx did not extensively use the form capitalism but instead those of capitalist, and capitalist mode of production, also according to the OED, Carl Adolph Douai, a German-American socialist and abolitionist, used the phrase private capitalism in 1863. Capital has existed incipiently on a scale for centuries, in the form of merchant, renting and lending activities. Simple commodity exchange, and consequently simple commodity production, which are the basis for the growth of capital from trade, have a very long history

12.
Business
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A business is an organizational entity involved in the provision of goods and services to consumers. Businesses may also be social non-profit enterprises or state-owned public enterprises operated by governments with specific social, a business owned by multiple private individuals may form as an incorporated company or jointly organise as a partnership. Countries have different laws that may ascribe different rights to the business entities. The word business can refer to an organization or to an entire market sector or to the sum of all economic activity. Compound forms such as agribusiness represent subsets of the broader meaning. Businesses aim to maximize sales to have their income exceed their expenditures, resulting in a profit, the owner operates the business alone and may hire employees. A sole proprietor has unlimited liability for all obligations incurred by the business, partnership, A partnership is a business owned by two or more people. In most forms of partnerships, each partner has unlimited liability for the debts incurred by the business, the three most prevalent types of for-profit partnerships are, general partnerships, limited partnerships, and limited liability partnerships. Corporation, The owners of a corporation have limited liability and the business has a legal personality from its owners. Corporations can be either government-owned or privately owned and they can organize either for profit or as nonprofit organizations. A privately owned, for-profit corporation is owned by its shareholders, a privately owned, for-profit corporation can be either privately held by a small group of individuals, or publicly held, with publicly traded shares listed on a stock exchange. Cooperative, Often referred to as a co-op, a cooperative is a limited-liability business that can organize as for-profit or not-for-profit, a cooperative differs from a corporation in that it has members, not shareholders, and they share decision-making authority. Cooperatives are typically classified as either consumer cooperatives or worker cooperatives, cooperatives are fundamental to the ideology of economic democracy. In contrast, unincorporated businesses or persons working on their own are not as protected. Franchises, A franchise is a system in which entrepreneurs purchase the rights to open, franchising in the United States is widespread and is a major economic powerhouse. One out of retail businesses in the United States are franchised and 8 million people are employed in a franchised business. Real estate businesses sell, invest, construct and develop properties – including land, residential homes, retailers, wholesalers, and distributors act as middlemen and get goods produced by manufacturers to the intended consumers, they make their profits by marking up their prices. Most stores and catalog companies are distributors or retailers, transportation businesses such as railways, airlines, shipping companies that deliver goods and individuals to their destinations for a fee

13.
Business cycle
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The business cycle or economic cycle is the downward and upward movement of gross domestic product around its long-term growth trend. The length of a cycle is the period of time containing a single boom. These fluctuations typically involve shifts over time periods of relatively rapid economic growth, and periods of relative stagnation or decline. Business cycles are usually measured by considering the rate of real gross domestic product. Despite the often-applied term cycles, these fluctuations in economic activity do not exhibit uniform or predictable periodicity, the common or popular usage boom-and-bust cycle refers to fluctuations in which the expansion is rapid and the contraction severe. Prior to that point classical economics had either denied the existence of cycles, blamed them on external factors, notably war. Sismondi found vindication in the Panic of 1825, which was the first unarguably international economic crisis and they advocated government intervention and socialism, respectively, as the solution. He devoted hundreds of pages of Das Kapital to crises, in Progress and Poverty, Henry George focused on lands role in crises – particularly land speculation – and proposed a single tax on land as a solution. In 1860 French economist Clement Juglar first identified economic cycles 7 to 11 years long, interest in the different typologies of cycles has waned since the development of modern macroeconomics, which gives little support to the idea of regular periodic cycles. There were great increases in productivity, industrial production and real per capita product throughout the period from 1870 to 1890 that included the Long Depression, there were also significant increases in productivity in the years leading up to the Great Depression. Both the Long and Great Depressions were characterized by overcapacity and market saturation, the effect of technological progress can be seen by the purchasing power of an average hours work, which has grown from $3 in 1900 to $22 in 1990, measured in 2010 dollars. There were similar increases in wages during the 19th century. See Financial crisis, 19th century for listing and details, the first of these crises not associated with a war was the Panic of 1825. Business cycles in OECD countries after World War II were generally more restrained than the business cycles. This was particularly true during the Golden Age of Capitalism, in this period, the economic cycle – at least the problem of depressions – was twice declared dead. The first declaration was in the late 1960s, when the Phillips curve was seen as being able to steer the economy, however, this was followed by stagflation in the 1970s, which discredited the theory. The second declaration was in the early 2000s, following the stability, notably, in 2003, Robert Lucas, in his presidential address to the American Economic Association, declared that the central problem of depression-prevention been solved, for all practical purposes. Unfortunately, this was followed by the 2008–2012 global recession, various regions have experienced prolonged depressions, most dramatically the economic crisis in former Eastern Bloc countries following the end of the Soviet Union in 1991

14.
Businessperson
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An entrepreneur is an example of a businessperson. The term may mean someone who is involved in an upper-level management role in a corporation, company, enterprise, firm, organization. This can especially apply to the founder, an owner, a manager, since a businessman can mean anyone in industry or commerce, businessmen have existed as long as industry and commerce have existed. Commerce can simply mean trade, and trade has existed through all of recorded history, the first businessmen were traders, or merchants. Merchants emerged as a class in medieval Italy, between 1300 and 1500, modern accounting, the bill of exchange, and limited liability were invented, and thus the world saw the first true bankers, who are certainly businessmen. Around the same time, Europe saw the emergence of rich merchants and this rise of the merchant class came as Europe needed a middleman for the first time, and these burghers or bourgeois were the people who played this role. Europe became the dominant global power in the 16th century. In this period, Europe developed and used paper money, checks, developments in actuarial science led to insurance. Together, these new tools were used by a new kind of businessman and these people owned or financed businesses as bankers, but they were not merchants of goods. These capitalists were a force in the Industrial Revolution. The newest kind of businessperson is the manager, one of the first true managers was Robert Owen, an industrialist in Scotland. He studied the problems of productivity and motivation, and was followed by Frederick Winslow Taylor, after World War I, management became popular due to the example of Herbert Hoover and the Harvard Business School, which offered degrees in business administration. There are no prescribed educational qualifications, rules or guidelines which one may follow, a person owning a small gas station in a local market is as much as a businessperson as a person who owns and leads a large Silicon Valley technology giant. There are many paths to becoming a businessperson, hence, no rigid formal educational qualification requirements can be stated for becoming a businessperson. However, there are attributes that successful businessmen must possess, Tact financial and business savvy, courage, leadership, vision, creativity, imagination. Among these components include branding, advertising, and public relations, well-balanced consistency in their business approach. Interest in giving back to society through philanthropy or venture capitalism for future socioeconomic development, hence, a businessperson should have the ability to take prompt decisions. Determination, courage and perseverance, They must have strong power and determination

15.
Capital (economics)
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In economics, capital goods, real capital, or capital assets are already-produced, durable goods or any non-financial asset that is used in production of goods or services. Adam Smith defines capital as That part of a stock which he expects to afford him revenue. The term stock is derived from the Old English word for stump or tree trunk and it has been used to refer to all the moveable property of a farm since at least 1510. In Middle Ages France contracted leases and loans bearing interest specified payment, how a capital good is maintained or returned to its pre-production state varies with the type of capital involved. In most cases capital is replaced after a period as newer forms of capital make continued use of current capital non profitable. It is also possible that advances make a form of capital practical again. Capital is distinct from land in that capital can be increased by human labor, at any given moment in time, total physical capital may be referred to as the capital stock. Capital is an input in the production function, homes and personal autos are not usually defined as capital but as durable goods because they are not used in a production of saleable goods and services. In Marxist political economy, capital is used to buy something only in order to sell it again to realize a financial profit. In more contemporary schools of economics, this form of capital is referred to as financial capital and is distinguished from capital goods. Classical and neoclassical economics regard capital as one of the factors of production, all other inputs to production are called intangibles in classical economics. This includes organization, entrepreneurship, knowledge, goodwill, or management and this is what makes it a factor of production, The good is not used up immediately in the process of production unlike raw materials or intermediate goods. The good can be produced or increased and these distinctions of convenience have carried over to contemporary economic theory. There was the clarification that capital is a stock. As such, its value can be estimated at a point in time, by contrast, investment, as production to be added to the capital stock, is described as taking place over time, thus a flow. Since at least the 1960s economists have increasingly focused on forms of capital. These terms lead to questions and controversies discussed in those articles. It is in the form of assets, traded in financial markets

16.
Capital accumulation
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The process of capital accumulation forms the basis of capitalism, and is one of the defining characteristics of a capitalist economic system. In a more broad sense, capital accumulation may refer to the gathering or amassing of any objects of value as judged by ones perceived reproductive interest group. The definition of capital accumulation is subject to controversy and ambiguities, because it could refer to, most often, capital accumulation involves both a net addition and a redistribution of wealth, which may raise the question of who really benefits from it most. If more wealth is produced there was before, a society becomes richer. But if some accumulate capital only at the expense of others and it is also possible that some accumulate capital much faster than others. In principle, it is possible that a few people or organisations accumulate capital and grow richer, in economics and accounting capital accumulation is often equated with investment of profit income or savings, especially in real capital goods. The concentration and centralisation of capital are two of the results of such accumulation, Capital accumulation refers ordinarily to, real investment in tangible means of production, such as acquisitions, research and development, etc. that can increase the capital flow. Investment in financial assets represented on paper, yielding profit, interest, rent, investment in non-productive physical assets such as residential real estate or works of art that appreciate in value. And by extension to, human capital, i. e. new education, social capital, i. e. the wealth and productive capacity that the people in a society hold in common, rather than as individuals or corporations. Both non-financial and financial capital accumulation is usually needed for economic growth, smarter and more productive organization of production can also increase production without increased capital. Capital can be created without increased investment by inventions or improved organization that increase productivity, discoveries of new assets, the term is occasionally used in national accounts. Accumulation can be measured as the value of investments, the amount of income that is reinvested. Usually the Reserve Banks and the Treasury provide interpretations and analysis of this data, standard indicators include Capital formation, Gross fixed capital formation, fixed capital, household asset wealth, and foreign direct investment. Organisations such as the International Monetary Fund, UNCTAD, the World Bank Group, the OECD, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Eurostat and the Japan Statistical Office provide data on the USA, Europe and Japan respectively. A reputable scientific journal is the Review of Income & Wealth, in the case of the USA, the Analytical Perspectives document provides useful wealth and capital estimates applying to the whole country. The rate of growth of the stock of fixed capital is. If the capital-output ratio or capital coefficient is constant, the rate of growth of Y is equal to the rate of growth of K and this is determined by s and k. A country might for example save and invest 12% of its national income, however, as Keynesian economics points out, savings do not automatically mean investment

17.
Capital market
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A capital market is a financial market in which long-term debt or equity-backed securities are bought and sold. Capital markets are defined as markets in money is provided for periods longer than a year. Capital markets channel the wealth of savers to those who can put it to productive use. There are many thousands of systems, most serving only small parts of the overall capital markets. Entities hosting the systems include stock exchanges, investment banks, physically the systems are hosted all over the world, though they tend to be concentrated in financial centres like London, New York, and Hong Kong. A capital market can be either a primary market or a secondary market, in primary markets, new stock or bond issues are sold to investors, often via a mechanism known as underwriting. The main entities seeking to raise funds on the primary capital markets are governments. Governments issue only bonds, whereas companies often issue either equity or bonds, the main entities purchasing the bonds or stock include pension funds, hedge funds, sovereign wealth funds, and less commonly wealthy individuals and investment banks trading on their own behalf. In the secondary markets, existing securities are sold and bought among investors or traders, usually on an exchange, over-the-counter, or elsewhere. The existence of secondary markets increases the willingness of investors in primary markets, a second important division falls between the stock markets and the bond markets. The money markets are used for the raising of short term finance, whereas the capital markets are used for the raising of long term finance, such as the purchase of shares, or for loans that are not expected to be fully paid back for at least a year. Funds borrowed from the markets are typically used for general operating expenses. For example, a company may have inbound payments from customers that have not yet cleared, when a company borrows from the primary capital markets, often the purpose is to invest in additional physical capital goods, which will be used to help increase its income. It can take months or years before the investment generates sufficient return to pay back its cost. Together, money markets and capital markets form the financial markets as the term is narrowly understood, the capital market is concerned with long term finance. In the widest sense, it consists of a series of channels through which the savings of the community are available for industrial and commercial enterprises. Regular bank lending is not usually classed as a market transaction. A key difference is that with a bank loan, the lending is not securitised

18.
Company
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A company, abbreviated co. is a legal entity made up of an association of people, be they natural, legal, or a mixture of both, for carrying on a commercial or industrial enterprise. Company members share a common purpose and unite in order to focus their various talents and organize their collectively available skills or resources to achieve specific, because companies are legal persons, they also may associate and register themselves as companies – often known as a corporate group. When the company closes it may need a certificate to avoid further legal obligations. A company can be defined as a person, invisible, intangible, created by or under law, with a discrete legal personality, perpetual succession. It is not affected by the death, insanity, or insolvency of an individual member, by 1303, the word referred to trade guilds. Usage of company to mean business association was first recorded in 1553, in English law and in legal jurisdictions based upon it, a company is a body corporate or corporation company registered under the Companies Acts or similar legislation. It may be referred to as a firm, in the US, a company is not necessarily a corporation. Commonly used where companies are formed for non-commercial purposes, such as clubs or charities, the members guarantee the payment of certain amounts if the company goes into insolvent liquidation, but otherwise they have no economic rights in relation to the company. This type of company is common in England, a company limited by guarantee may be with or without having share capital. The most common form of used for business ventures. This type of company is common in England and many English-speaking countries, a company limited by shares may be a publicly traded company or a privately held company. A company limited by guarantee with a share capital, a hybrid entity, usually used where the company is formed for non-commercial purposes, but the activities of the company are partly funded by investors who expect a return. This type of company may no longer be formed in the UK, a company—statutorily authorized in certain states—that is characterized by limited liability, management by members or managers, and limitations on ownership transfer, i. e. L. L. C. LLC structure has been called hybrid in that it combines the characteristics of a corporation, an unlimited company with or without a share capital. A hybrid entity, a company where the liability of members or shareholders for the debts of the company are not limited, in this case doctrine of veil of incorporation does not apply. Less common types of companies are, Companies formed by letters patent, most corporations by letters patent are corporations sole and not companies as the term is commonly understood today. Before the passing of modern companies legislation, these were the types of companies. Now they are rare, except for very old companies that still survive

19.
Corporation
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A corporation is a company or group of people authorized to act as a single entity and recognized as such in law. Early incorporated entities were established by charter, most jurisdictions now allow the creation of new corporations through registration. Corporations chartered in regions where they are distinguished by whether they are allowed to be for profit or not are referred to as for profit and not-for-profit corporations, there is some overlap between stock/non-stock and for profit/not-for-profit in that not-for-profit corporations are always non-stock as well. A for profit corporation is almost always a stock corporation, registered corporations have legal personality and are owned by shareholders whose liability is limited to their investment. Shareholders do not typically actively manage a corporation, shareholders instead elect or appoint a board of directors to control the corporation in a fiduciary capacity, in American English, the word corporation is most often used to describe large business corporations. In British English and in the Commonwealth countries, the company is more widely used to describe the same sort of entity while the word corporation encompasses all incorporated entities. In American English, the company can include entities such as partnerships that would not be referred to as companies in British English as they are not a separate legal entity. Despite not being human beings, corporations, as far as the law is concerned, are legal persons. Corporations can exercise human rights against real individuals and the state, Corporations can be dissolved either by statutory operation, order of court, or voluntary action on the part of shareholders. Corporations can even be convicted of offenses, such as fraud. However, corporations are not considered living entities in the way humans are. While not a corporation, this new type of entity became very attractive as an alternative for corporations not needing to issue stock, in Germany, the organization was referred to as Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung or GmbH. In the last quarter of the 20th Century this new form of organization became available in the United States and other countries. Since the GmbH and LLC forms of organization are technically not corporations they will not be discussed in this article, the word corporation derives from corpus, the Latin word for body, or a body of people. By the time of Justinian, Roman law recognized a range of corporate entities under the names universitas and these included the state itself, municipalities, and such private associations as sponsors of a religious cult, burial clubs, political groups, and guilds of craftsmen or traders. Such bodies commonly had the right to own property and make contracts, to receive gifts and legacies, to sue and be sued, private associations were granted designated privileges and liberties by the emperor. Entities which carried on business and were the subjects of rights were found in ancient Rome. In medieval Europe, churches became incorporated, as did local governments, such as the Pope, the point was that the incorporation would survive longer than the lives of any particular member, existing in perpetuity

20.
Competition (economics)
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Merriam-Webster defines competition in business as the effort of two or more parties acting independently to secure the business of a third party by offering the most favorable terms. Later microeconomic theory distinguished between perfect competition and imperfect competition, concluding that perfect competition is Pareto efficient while imperfect competition is not. Competition, according to the theory, causes commercial firms to develop new products, services and technologies, the greater selection typically causes lower prices for the products, compared to what the price would be if there was no competition or little competition. Competition is generally accepted as a condition for the coordination of disparate individuals interests via the market process. It is generally accepted that competition results in lower prices and a number of goods delivered to more people. Less competition is perceived to result in higher prices with a fewer number of—and less innovation in—goods delivered to fewer people, as a result, many governments use competition laws to promote competition and regulate against anti-competitive practices. Competition is seen as a state which produces gains for the whole economy, competition is widespread throughout the market process. It is a condition where buyers tend to compete with other buyers, in offering goods for exchange, buyers competitively bid to purchase specific quantities of specific goods which are available, or might be available if sellers were to choose to offer such goods. Similarly, sellers bid against other sellers in offering goods on the market, competing for the attention, competition results from scarcity—there is never enough to satisfy all conceivable human wants—and occurs when people strive to meet the criteria that are being used to determine who gets what. For the competitive process to work however, it is important that prices accurately signal costs and benefits, where externalities occur, or monopolistic or oligopolistic conditions persist, or for the provision of certain goods such as public goods, the pressure of the competitive process is reduced. Competition may also lead to wasted effort and to increased costs in some circumstances, in a small number of goods and services, the cost structure means that competition may be inefficient. These situations are known as natural monopoly and are usually publicly provided or tightly regulated, competition does not necessarily have to be between companies. For example, business writers sometimes refer to internal competition, the idea was first introduced by Alfred Sloan at General Motors in the 1920s. Sloan deliberately created areas of overlap between divisions of the company so that division would be competing with the other divisions. For example, the Chevy division would compete with the Pontiac division for some market segments, also, in 1931, Procter & Gamble initiated a deliberate system of internal brand versus brand rivalry. The company was organized around different brands, with each brand allocated resources, each brand manager was given responsibility for the success or failure of the brand and was compensated accordingly. This form of competition thus pitted a brand against another brand, finally, most businesses also encourage competition between individual employees. An example of this is a contest between sales representatives, the sales representative with the highest sales over a period of time would gain benefits from the employer

21.
Economic interventionism
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Economic interventionism is an economic policy perspective favoring government intervention in the market process to correct the market failures and promote the general welfare of the people. The term intervention is used by advocates of laissez-faire and free markets. Capitalist market economies that feature high degrees of intervention are often referred to as mixed economies. Government regulation over markets and/or firms can also be a type of intervention when it inhibits, corrects or distorts the market mechanism in setting the price of a good or service. Indicative planning in market economies is sometimes considered to be a form of intervention when it influences the setting of prices in markets. Socialists often criticize interventionism as being untenable and liable to cause more economic distortion in the long-run, the effects of government economic interventionism are widely disputed. One study suggests that after the lost decade an increasing diffusion of regulatory authorities emerged, Latin America through the 1980s had undergone a debt crisis and hyperinflation. These international stakeholders restricted the economic leverage, and bound it in contract to co-operate. Multiple projects and years of failed attempts, for the Argentine state to comply, two key intervention factors that instigated economic progress in Argentina, were substantially increasing privatization and the establishment of a currency board. In Western countries, government officials theoretically weigh the cost benefit for an intervention for the population or they succumb beneath coercion by a private party. Also intervention for economic development is at the discretion and self-interest of the stake holders, to illustrate this during the 2008 debt crisis, the government and international institutions did not prop Lehman Brothers up therefore allowing them to file bankruptcy. Days later when AIG waned towards collapsing, the state spent public money to keep it from falling and these corporations have interconnected interests with the state. Therefore, their incentive is to influence the government to designate regulatory policies that will not inhibit their accumulation of assets. In Japan, Abenomics is a form of intervention with respect to Prime Minister Shinzo Abes desire to restore the former glory in the midst of a globalized economy. President Richard Nixon signed amendments to the Clean Air Act in 1970 and it was later further amended in 1977 and 1990. NEPA remains one of the most commonly used environmental laws in the nation, in addition to NEPA, there are numerous pollution-control statutes that apply to such specific environmental media as air and water. The best known of these laws are the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, during World War I, U. S government intervention mandated that the manufacturing of cars be replaced with machinery to successfully fight the war. Today government intervention could be used to break the U. S dependence on oil by mandating U. S automakers to produce electric cars such as the Chevrolet Volt

22.
Economic surplus
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In mainstream economics, economic surplus, also known as total welfare or Marshallian surplus, refers to two related quantities. In Marxian economics, the surplus may also refer to surplus value, surplus product. In the mid-19th century, engineer Jules Dupuit first propounded the concept of economic surplus, on a standard supply and demand diagram, consumer surplus is the area above the equilibrium price of the good and below the demand curve. Yet they in fact pay just the price for each unit they buy. Likewise, in the diagram, producer surplus is the area below the equilibrium price. Yet they in fact receive the equilibrium price for all the units they sell, consumer surplus is the difference between the maximum price a consumer is willing to pay and the actual price they do pay. If a consumer would be willing to pay more than the current asking price, an example of a good with generally high consumer surplus is drinking water. People would pay very high prices for drinking water, as they need it to survive, the difference in the price that they would pay, if they had to, and the amount that they pay now is their consumer surplus. Note that the utility of the first few liters of drinking water is very high, typically these prices are decreasing, they are given by the individual demand curve. The consumers surplus is highest at the largest number of units for which, even for the last unit, the aggregate consumers surplus is the sum of the consumers surplus for all individual consumers. This can be represented graphically as shown in the graph of the market demand. The consumer surplus is the area under the curve and above a horizontal line at the actual price. For more general demand and supply functions, these areas are not triangles and this shows that if we see a rise in the equilibrium price and a fall in the equilibrium quantity, then consumer surplus falls. When supply of a good expands, the falls and consumer surplus increases. Consider an example of linear supply and demand curves, for an initial supply curve S0, consumer surplus is the triangle above the line formed by price P0 to the demand line. If supply expands from S0 to S1, the consumers surplus expands to the triangle above P1, the change in consumers surplus is difference in area between the two triangles, and that is the consumer welfare associated with expansion of supply. Some people were willing to pay the higher price P0, the second set of beneficiaries are consumers who buy more, and new consumers, those who will pay the new lower price but not the higher price. Their additional consumption makes up the difference between Q1 and Q0, the rule of one-half estimates the change in consumer surplus for small changes in supply with a constant demand curve

23.
Entrepreneurship
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What appears as a real opportunity ex ante might actually be a non-opportunity or one that cannot be actualized by entrepreneurs lacking the necessary business skills, financial or social capital. Traditionally, an entrepreneur has been defined as a person who starts, organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk. Rather than working as an employee, an entrepreneur runs a business and assumes all the risk and reward of a given business venture, idea. The entrepreneur is commonly seen as a leader and innovator of new ideas. They act as the manager and oversee the launch and growth of an enterprise, Entrepreneurship is the process by which an individual identifies a business opportunity and acquires and deploys the necessary resources required for its exploitation. For Schumpeter, the changes and dynamic disequilibrium brought on by the innovating entrepreneur, the ‘norm’ of a healthy economy. Entrepreneurial spirit is characterized by innovation and risk-taking, for example, in the 2000s, the field of social entrepreneurship has been identified, in which entrepreneurs combine business activities with humanitarian, environmental or community goals. In the 2010s, entrepreneurship can be studied in college or university as part of the disciplines of management or business administration, Entrepreneur, is a loanword from French. First used in 1723, today the term entrepreneur implies qualities of leadership, initiative, economist Robert Reich has called team-building, leadership, and management ability essential qualities for the entrepreneur. Historically the study of entrepreneurship reaches back to the work in the late 17th and early 18th centuries of Richard Cantillon and Adam Smith, which was foundational to classical economics. In the 20th century, entrepreneurship was studied by Joseph Schumpeter in the 1930s and other Austrian economists such as Carl Menger, Ludwig von Mises, the term entrepreneurship was coined around the 1920s, while the loan from French of the word entrepreneur dates to the 1850s. According to Schumpeter, an entrepreneur is willing and able to convert a new idea or invention into a successful innovation, thus, creative destruction is largely responsible for long-term economic growth. The idea that leads to economic growth is an interpretation of the residual in endogenous growth theory. For Schumpeter, entrepreneurship resulted in new industries and in new combinations of currently existing inputs, Schumpeters initial example of this was the combination of a steam engine and then current wagon making technologies to produce the horseless carriage. In this case the innovation, the car, was transformational and it did not immediately replace the horse-drawn carriage, but in time, incremental improvements reduced the cost and improved the technology, leading to the modern auto industry. Despite Schumpeters early 20th-century contributions, traditional microeconomic theory did not formally consider the entrepreneur in its theoretical frameworks, in this treatment, the entrepreneur was an implied but unspecified actor, consistent with the concept of the entrepreneur being the agent of x-efficiency. For Schumpeter, the entrepreneur did not bear risk, the capitalist did, Schumpeter was of the opinion that entrepreneurs shift the Production Possibility Curve to a higher level using innovations. Cantillon emphasized the willingness of the entrepreneur to assume risk and to deal with uncertainty, thus, he draws attention to the function of the entrepreneur, and distinguishes clearly between the function of the entrepreneur and the owner who provides the money

24.
Financial market
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A financial market is a market in which people trade financial securities, commodities, and other fungible items of value at low transaction costs and at prices that reflect supply and demand. Securities include stocks and bonds, and commodities include precious metals or agricultural products, in economics, typically, the term market means the aggregate of possible buyers and sellers of a certain good or service and the transactions between them. The term market is used for what are more strictly exchanges, organizations that facilitate the trade in financial securities. This may be a location or an electronic system. Another common use of the term is as a catchall for all the markets in the financial sector, capital markets which to consist of, Stock markets, which provide financing through the issuance of shares or common stock, and enable the subsequent trading thereof. Bond markets, which provide financing through the issuance of bonds, commodity markets, which facilitate the trading of commodities. Money markets, which provide short term debt financing and investment, derivatives markets, which provide instruments for the management of financial risk. Futures markets, which provide standardized forward contracts for trading products at some future date, Foreign exchange markets, which facilitate the trading of foreign exchange. Spot market Interbanks market The capital markets may also be divided into primary markets, newly formed securities are bought or sold in primary markets, such as during initial public offerings. Secondary markets allow investors to buy and sell existing securities, the transactions in primary markets exist between issuers and investors, while secondary market transactions exist among investors. Liquidity is an aspect of securities that are traded in secondary markets. Liquidity refers to the ease with which a security can be sold without a loss of value, securities with an active secondary market mean that there are many buyers and sellers at a given point in time. Investors benefit from liquid securities because they can sell their assets whenever they want, Financial markets attract funds from investors and channel them to corporations—they thus allow corporations to finance their operations and achieve growth. Money markets allow firms to borrow funds on a term basis. Without financial markets, borrowers would have difficulty finding lenders themselves, intermediaries such as banks, Investment Banks, and Boutique Investment Banks can help in this process. Banks take deposits from those who have money to save and they can then lend money from this pool of deposited money to those who seek to borrow. Banks popularly lend money in the form of loans and mortgages, a good example of a financial market is a stock exchange. A company can raise money by selling shares to investors and its shares can be bought or sold

25.
Free price system
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A free price system or free price mechanism is a mechanism of resource allocation that relies upon monetary prices set by the interchange of supply and demand. The resulting prices serve as signals communicated between producers and consumers which serve to guide the production and distribution of resources, through the free price system, supplies are rationed, income is distributed, and resources are allocated. A free price system contrasts with a price system where prices are administered by government in a controlled market. The price system, whether free or controlled, contrasts with physical, since resources of consumers are limited at any given time, consumers are relegated to satisfying wants in a descending hierarchy and bidding prices relative to the urgency of a variety of wants. This information on relative values is communicated, through price signals, in turn, relative prices for the productive services are established. The interchange of two sets of prices establish market value, and serve to guide the rationing of resources, distributing income. Those goods which command the highest prices provide an incentive for businesses to provide these goods in a descending hierarchy of priority. However, the ordering of this hierarchy of wants is not constant, when consumer preferences for a good increase, then bidding pressure raises the price for a particular good as it moves to a higher position in the hierarchy. As a result of prices for this good, more productive forces are applied to satisfying the demand driven by the opportunity for higher profits in satisfying this new consumer preference. In other words, the high price sends a signal to producers. Hence, the now lower price provides a signal to producers to decrease production and, as a result. Also, as resources become more scarce the price increases, which signals to consumers to reduce consumption thereby ensuring that the quantity demanded does not exceed the quantity supplied and it is in this way that the free price system persuades consumers to ration dwindling resources. Hence, supply and demand affects price while at the time, price affects supply. If prices remain high because increases in supply cannot keep pace with demand, individual employments and incomes are also guided by the price system. Employment will move toward those goods and services that consumers value, the Freeman, The Foundation for Economic Education, June 1958

26.
Free market
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Another view considers systems with significant market power, inequality of bargaining power, or information asymmetry to be less than free. It is a result of a need being, then the need being met, prices for goods and services are set freely by the forces of supply and demand and are allowed to reach their point of equilibrium without intervention by government policy. Others believe regulation might be part of a market, if the regulation is necessary to control significant market power, inequality of bargaining power. The latter view implies a free market is not necessarily deregulated, although some of those with the former belief speak of free markets, friedrich Hayek argued in The Pure Theory of Capital that the goal is the preservation of the unique information contained in the price itself. The definition of free market has been disputed and made complex by collectivist political philosophers, during the marginal revolution, subjective value theory was rediscovered. Various forms of socialism based on free markets have existed since the 19th century, early notable socialist proponents of free markets include Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Benjamin Tucker, and the Ricardian socialists. These economists believed that free markets and voluntary exchange could not exist within the exploitative conditions of capitalism. Advocates of free-market socialism such as Jaroslav Vanek argue that free markets are not possible under conditions of private ownership of productive property. Socialists also point out that free market capitalism leads to excessive disparities in the distribution of income, corporate monopolies run rampant in free markets, with endless agency over the consumer. Thus, free market capitalism desires government regulation of markets to prevent social instability and this implies that economic rents, i. e. profits generated from lack of perfect competition, must be reduced or eliminated as much as possible through free competition. Economic theory suggests the returns to land and other resources are economic rents that cannot be reduced in such a way because of their perfect inelastic supply. Some economic thinkers emphasize the need to share those rents as a requirement for a well functioning market. It is suggested this would eliminate the need for regular taxes that have a negative effect on trade as well as release land. Two features that improve the competition and free market mechanisms, winston Churchill supported this view by his statement Land is the mother of all monopoly. The American economist and social philosopher Henry George, the most famous proponent of this thesis, followers of his ideas are often called Georgists or Geoists and Geolibertarians. Léon Walras, one of the founders of the neoclassical economics who helped formulate the general theory, had a very similar view. He argued that competition could only be realized under conditions of state ownership of natural resources. Additionally, income taxes could be eliminated because the state would receive income to public services through owning such resources and enterprises

27.
Goods and services
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Physiocratic economists categorized production into productive labour and unproductive labour. This emphasis on production was adapted by David Ricardo, Thomas Robert Malthus and John Stuart Mill. Other, mainly Italian, 18th century economists maintained that all desired goods, the division of consumables into services is a simplification, these are not discrete categories. Most business theorists see a continuum with pure service at one endpoint, most products fall between these two extremes. For example, a restaurant provides a good, but also provides services in the form of ambience. Although some utilities, such as electricity and communications service providers, exclusively provide services, other utilities deliver physical goods, for public sector contracting purposes in the European Union, electricity supply is actually defined as goods rather than services. Goods are normally structural and can be transferred in an instant while services are delivered over a period of time, goods can be returned while a service once delivered cannot. Goods are not always tangible and may be virtual e. g. a book may be paper or electronic, marketing theory makes use of the service-goods continuum as an important concept which enables marketers to see the relative goods/services composition of total products. In a narrower sense, service refers to quality of customer service and this particular usage occurs frequently in retailing. Distinctions are made between goods and services in the context of international trade liberalization, for example, the World Trade Organizations General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade covers international trade in goods and the General Aglreement on Trade in Services covers the services sector

28.
Investor
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An investor allocates capital with the expectation of a future financial return. Types of investments include, equity, debt securities, real estate, currency, commodity, token, derivatives such as put and call options, futures, forwards and this definition makes no distinction between those in the primary and secondary markets. That is, someone who provides a business with capital and someone who buys a stock are both investors, an investor who owns a stock is a shareholder. The assumption of risk in anticipation of gain but recognizing a higher than average possibility of loss, the term speculation implies that a business or investment risk can be analyzed and measured, and its distinction from the term investment is one of degree of risk. It differs from gambling, which is based on random outcomes, investors can include stock traders but with this distinguishing characteristic, investors are owners of a company which entails responsibilities. There are two types of investors, retail investors and institutional investors, Individuals gambling in games of chance, in this respect, an important distinctive investor psychology trait is risk attitude. The term investor protection defines the entity of efforts and activities to observe, safeguard and enforce the rights and this includes advice and legal action. Countries with stronger investor protections tend to grow faster than those with poor investor protections, investor protection includes accurate financial reporting by public companies so the investors can make an informed decision. Investor protection also includes fairness of the market which means all participants in the market have access to the same information, investor protection through government is regulations and enforcements by government agencies to ensure that market is fair and fraudulent activities are eliminated. An example of a government agency provides protection to investors is the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Investor protection through individual is the strategy that one utilizes to minimize loss, individual investors can protect themselves by purchasing only shares of businesses that they understand, or only those that remain calm through market volatility. An individual investor may be protected by the strategy he uses in investment, the strategy includes an appropriate price of the stocks or assets in the right time he enters. Its hard to fix what an appropriate price is, and when it is appropriate because no one makes a purchase or a sale absolutely in his most favorable situation, however, determination may be made when the price of such share or assets are undervalued comparing to its potentiality. This is called the margin of safety where an investor can feel at ease when the price of the stocks is alarmingly down, in various instances, the term investor is associated with a means of getting rich quickly. Historically, the road to successful investment is founded on preparation, with various goals that help smooth the journey to the ultimate. To be successful, authorities such as Investopedia advise that an investment plan must include an objective, a determined period of time for completion. A planned investment structure would be dependent on the desired investment target, for an investor, understanding the influencing factors related to finance is a valuable asset which can be gained from various sources. A financial awareness will help any investor learn and understand the mechanism of the investment marketplace, warren Buffett, an established and recognized expert on the subject of successful investing, has a simple philosophy, If I cannot understand it, I will not invest in it

Welfare capitalism is capitalism that includes social welfare policies. Welfare capitalism is also the practice of …

Robert Owen was a utopian socialist of the early 19th century, who introduced one of the first private systems of philanthropic welfare for his workers at the cotton mills of New Lanark. He embarked on a scheme in New Harmony, Indiana to create a model cooperative, called the New Moral World, (pictured). Owenites fired bricks to build it, but construction never took place.

The Marquis of Pombal, as the head of the government of Portugal, implemented sweeping socio-economic reforms (abolished slavery, significantly weakened the Inquisition, created the basis for secular public schools and restructured the tax system), effectively ruling as a powerful, progressive dictator

Denmark's minister Johann Struensee, a social reformer, was publicly executed in 1772

The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in the period from about 1760 to sometime …

A Roberts loom in a weaving shed in 1835. Textiles were the leading industry of the Industrial Revolution and mechanized factories, powered by a central water wheel or steam engine, were the new workplace.

The plate of the Martin ejector seat of a military aircraft, stating that the design is covered by multiple patents in Britain, South Africa, Canada and "others". Dübendorf Museum of Military Aviation.

The Venetian Patent Statute, issued by the Senate of Venice in 1474, and one of the earliest statutory patent systems in the world.

Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of …

A sample picture of a fictional ATM card. The largest part of the world's money exists only as accounting numbers which are transferred between financial computers. Various plastic cards and other devices give individual consumers the power to electronically transfer such money to and from their bank accounts, without the use of currency.

In 1570 (May 20) Gilles Coppens de Diest at Antwerp published 53 maps created by Abraham Ortelius under the title Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, considered the "first modern atlas". Latin editions, besides Dutch, French and German editions appeared before the end of 1572; the atlas continued to be in demand till about 1612. This is the world map from this atlas.

A capital market is a financial market in which long-term debt or equity-backed securities are bought and sold. Capital …

The trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange, one of the largest secondary capital markets in the world. As of 2013, most of the NYSE's trades are executed electronically, but its hybrid structure allows some trading to be done face to face on the floor.

Opposition to copyright or anti-copyright refers to a movement dissenting the nature of current copyright law, often …

The symbol of Kopimi, an anti-copyright initiative developed by the Piratbyrå, a Swedish organisation actively opposing modern copyright law and practices, and the previous operators of BitTorrent trackerThe Pirate Bay, before it was spun off as an independent organisation.

A business (also known as an enterprise, a company, or a firm) is an organizational entity and legal entity made up of …

A statue of Adam Smith in Edinburgh's High Street, Smith laid the foundations of classical free market economic theory. The Wealth of Nations was a precursor to the modern academic discipline of economics.

In microeconomics, supply and demand is an economic model of price determination in a market. It postulates that in a …

Adam Smith

Image: Fig 5 Supply and demand curves

The price P of a product is determined by a balance between production at each price (supply S) and the desires of those with purchasing power at each price (demand D). The diagram shows a positive shift in demand from D1 to D2, resulting in an increase in price (P) and quantity sold (Q) of the product.

In economics, "competition" is the rivalry among sellers trying to achieve such goals as increasing profits, market …

Adjacent advertisements in an 1885 newspaper for the makers of two competing ore concentrators (machines that separate out valuable ores from undesired minerals). The lower ad touts that their price is lower, and that their machine's quality and efficiency was demonstrated to be higher, both of which are general means of economic competition.

The printing equipment company ATF explicitly states in its 1923 manual that its goal is to 'discourage unhealthy competition' in the printing industry.

The Chicago school of economics is a neoclassical school of economic thought associated with the work of the faculty at …

The Nobel laureate Milton Friedman was affiliated with the University of Chicago for three decades; his ideas and his students made significant contributions to the development of Chicago School theory.